Toby Derrikson
Toby Derrikson is the lead artist of Mein Studios, first credited on the first episode of Everything News ''for post-processing visuals and assistant editing. In later videos, Derrikson is credited as being a co-director of videos, as well as the director of all music-related videos, including the videos made for the ''Africa Trilogy. Derrikson's most prominent input in Mein Studios is its overall visuals. He is responsible for all promo images, artwork, thumbnails, album covers, videos (visual side), and logos used within the company, perhaps most notably the Purple Cross, which is Mein Studios' current logo used on all releases. Aside from visuals, Toby's secondary input is of concepts, particularly in Heartbreaker and co-writing various videos on the Mein Studios YouTube channel. Story Very little of Toby Derrikson's actual past is known, with the most recent noted history being the year 2016. Even then, this is only regarded by Derrikson as "the year where he began to evolve into what is now" and that "was also a massive dick at the time." Derrikson was also inducted as part of Mein Studios in May 2016, although with a role that was then-undetermined. The most recent detailed history is the year 2017, which Derrikson rarely talks about due to being "the year in which he was hit by several (metaphorical) trains." Although, what has been told is that Derrikson dealt with a "disastrous" breakup, a lack of emotional support, and several cases of romantic and social rejection spanning through the entire year, with the possibility of more, untold events that made the year one of his worst. After surviving 2017, Derrikson went into 2018 feeling rather determined to recover over the year, contributing a few graphics to Mein Studios for promotional usage and for music experiments that Mr. Nasty was involved with at the time. Although, despite this, Derrikson was still never placed in a defined role, simply being considered part of Mein Studios. During the first half of 2018, he contributed to Mein Studios' first graphics and several art classes he had been taking at the time. One of the most notable works from this time period was River of Hades, an ink-and-marker drawing that is currently framed in the Mein Studios and was used as a prop in Nasty's Home Defense. In the second half of 2018, Derrikson began to mold into his role for Mein Studios. After dealing with more romantic trouble through the summer, his input for graphics increased exponentially, overpowering Nasty's input and finally cementing himself as the lead graphic designer for the company upon designing the Purple Cross in a promotional banner for Mein Studios, which would go on to become the group's primary logo to this day. According to Nasty, Derrikson used designing as a method of coping with his troubles, hence his massive increase in productivity. In August 2018, Derrikson was dubbed the Lead Designer of Mein Studios, just barely below the Lead Artist position, for a pair of promotional images he made for Doom mod projects Mein Studios had been working on at the time (both of which still being in development) that had exceeded the company's expectations. His new responsibility was to handle logos and vectors used in promotional material and in any projects the company would take up, including modified versions of the Violet Cross and anything else that was needed. This position would be held for four months, until January 2019. In January 2019, Derrikson was promoted to Lead Artist of Mein Studios, now being responsible for leading all visuals and directions needed for them. He was promoted to this position due to his work on Skeletal Sacrifice, proving himself worthy of more than just logo design and being able to work on all of the visuals of any projects he was interested in. Later, he would unofficially become considered one of the directors of videos, being a co-cirector of almost every video since Nasty's Record. His primary input now lies in directing videos and spearheading the visual side of them, as well as any artwork the Studios need. Derrikson is currently considered part of the "Unholy Trinity" of Mein Studios, consisting of himself (as the head of visuals), Mr. Nasty (as the creative lead and CEO), and America (as the director of members), being placed in the higher ranks and held with much respect within the company's official members due to his importance. Appearance Toby Derrikson's outfit is perhaps one of the most obscuring of the members of Mein Studios, the only parts of visible body being his eye areas and hair. Otherwise, he often wears a fedora-type hat and black facemask, as well as sunglasses on occasion. His clothing is closer to America's, being a vivid blue flannel jacket with black gloves and jeans, normally with a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. Contributions Toby Derrikson's contributions to Mein Studios are plentiful, being the primary output of all of the company's visuals and artwork, including videos and album covers. He also directs many of the music visuals, including all of the videos and artwork made for the several releases in the Africa Trilogy. Derrikson also made the first piece of music released on Mein Studios, being a cover of Nine Inch Nails' 9 Ghosts I ''(although erroneously misnamed as ''1 Ghosts 9.) Alongside his cover, he made a visual video, which was the first release on the Mein Studios YouTube channel in 2019 and the fourth video overall on the channel. His successful music contribution is credited as part of the Studios' interest in music making, with a cover of A-ha's Take on Me ''being made shortly after and ''Fourth Dimension, the company's first original music release, following that year in April. Relations Toby Derrikson has several relations in Mein Studios, regularly keeping contact with a majority of the company's members due to his higher ranking and skill in visual creation. These include: -A mostly-business connection to Mr. Nasty, rarely talking to him outside of projects and graphics needed and almost never seen with him in photos, besides group pictures. Nasty, however, still speaks highly of his skill, often directing people to him when they need visual work done. -Friendship with Mr. Resident, being the first person Resident had met from Mein Studios. Derrikson helped with inducting Resident into the company, pushing the proposition to Mr. Nasty until he agreed. -Friendship with Kamikazi, who acts as an art assistant to Derrikson in most projects since Heartbreaker. -Loose friendship with Frank Walbur. On rare occasions, Walbur takes Derrikson out to shoot targets. Not much interaction is known outside of this. Weird, we know. Trivia * Before Derrikson was dubbed the Lead Artist, Nasty often handled visual design himself. The result was often amateur banners that featured Dick Clark with glowing eyes and odd font choices. * Derrikson strongly hates the city of Sacramento, California, and dislikes California as a whole. * Derrikson is one of the few writers of promotional material for Mein Studios, alongside Mr. Nasty and America. * Derrikson has a distaste for the color red, often substituting it with purple, blue or, in rare cases, orange in order to avoid having to use the color extensively.